Notice of Privacy Practices for Christ Clinic
This notice describes how protected medical information about you may be used and disclosed and how you can get access to this information. Please review this document carefully.
Uses and Disclosures of Protected Health Information
Your protected medical information will be used by Christ clinic, on your behalf, in the following areas:
1. Treatment: We will use and disclose your protected health information to provide, coordinate, or manage your health care and any related services. This includes the coordination or management of your health care with other outside physicians and providers who, at the request of your provider, become involved in your care by providing assistance with your health care diagnosis and treatment.
2. Payment: Your protected health care information will be used as needed, to obtain payment for you health care services. Examples of this are: checking for eligibility or coverage of insurance benefits, reviewing services for medical necessity and utilization review activities.
3. Healthcare Operations: We may use or disclose, as needed, your protected health care information in order to support business activities of your provider’s practice. Examples of these activities may include the following: quality assessment activities, employee review activities, training of medical students and conducting or arranging for other business activities. Other examples of these operational include: using a sign in sheet at the registration desk, calling by you by name in the waiting room when your physician is ready to see you and when we contact you to remind you of your appointment. The medical records are managed electronically. The de-identified health care information may be sold for assessment of data research purposes.
We may also use your protected health care information to provide you with information about treatment alternative or health related benefits that may be of interest to you. For example: your name and address may be used to send you a newsletter about our practice and the services we offer.
Other Permitted and Required Uses and Disclosures That May Be Made Without Your Consent, Authorization or Opportunity to Object
1. Research: We may disclose your protected health information to researchers when their research has been approved by an institutional review board that has reviewed the research the research proposal and established protocols to ensure the privacy of your protected health information.
2. Emergencies: We may also use or disclose your protected health care information in an emergency treatment situation.
3. By Law: Christ Clinic will release protected health information when required by law such as in the following examples: public health, communicable disease exposures, health oversight, abuse or neglect, FDA legal proceedings, law enforcement and workers compensation.
Other uses and disclosures of your protected health information will be made only with your written authorization, which you may revoke at anytime by providing us with written notice of the revocation.
Your Rights
You have the following rights with respect to your protected medical information:
1. The right to inspect and copy your protected health information.
2. The right to request that your protected health information be amended.
3. The right to receive an accounting of protected health information for other than treatment, payment, or operation purpose (referred to as non-routine disclosures).
4. The right to request restrictions on certain uses and disclosures of protected health information, which we shall review to make a determination as to whether or not such request will be accepted.
5. The right to receive confidential communications about your protected health information.
6. The right to request and receive a paper copy of this Notice of Privacy.
We are required by law, professional ethics, and guidelines to maintain the privacy of your protected health information. We are also required by law to provide you with this legal notice of our duties and privacy practices with respect to your protected health information.
We shall abide by the terms of the Notice of Privacy that is currently in effect.
We reserve the right to change the terms of our Notice of Privacy and to make the new notice provisions effective for all protected health care information that we maintain. Revised Notice of Privacy shall be provided to you, at your request, to your address of record.
If you believe that your privacy rights may have been violated, you may file a complaint to the Christ Clinic, and to the Secretary of Health and Human Services. The complaint must be filed in writing.
Complaints
The Christ Clinic as a matter of law, professional ethics, and guidelines shall not retaliate in any manner against you for filing such a complaint.
Contact Information
For additional information or clarification of the Christ Clinic’s private policy and procedure or about filing a complaint, please contact our Compliance Officer at 509-325-0393.
Effective Date of This Notice
The effective date of this Notice is September 1, 2004, the date of its original publication, distribution and use.
Privacy Practice/ Clinic Doc/ Sept 07